Chapter 8
Bellis found Sam unconscious on the ground, a stream of blood running from her nose and one ear. Fisting her shirt, he bent to scoop her up, tossing her over his shoulder as he barked out order. “COVER!”
The Walker team below instantly responded, covering him as he ran up into the trees with Sam hanging limply over his shoulder. It wasn’t lost on him that she wasn’t moving, and he cursed as he pushed to run faster. He hadn’t even checked to ensure she was breathing before he snatched her up.
His booted feet sunk into the moist earth and he kept right on running. Hearing a helicopter approaching, relief was swift. Apparently, Walker lives were more important to Monroe than his concern over the government’s sudden interest in StoneCrow.
Bellis saw the chopper hovering higher up the mountain and raced for it. Through the trees he could make out a clearing and he double-timed it, knowing that’s where the chopper was looking to set down.
Wind whipped around him as he neared, and just feet from the helicopter, Bellis fisted the back of Sam’s shirt to pull her into the cradle of his arms. He held her head against his chest and jumped into the cabin of the helicopter. Without hesitation it lifted off the ground.
“THEY’VE GOT A GRENADE LAUNCHER,” he yelled, needing to inform Tito so he could get them out of firing range quickly.
Bishop, who was co-piloting, nodded, and they lifted from the ground, both doors still wide open, making it hard to hear and concentrate as Bellis fought to keep his balance on his knees. He frantically studied Sam’s face, but there was no smile now. Her eyes were closed and she was deathly pale. Crouched over her, he heard when the distant gunfire ceased. The Megalya knew their target was gone.
Bishop turned and glanced over his shoulder, his expression turning grim when he looked at Sam.
“Get us to the infirmary!” Bellis barked, and tensed when Bishop looked from him to Tito and then back. “What?”
“King doesn’t want her back there. We’re taking you to the North Fortress. Don’t worry. King sent Jenny in the Blackbird. She should already be there.”
“Fffffuck!” Bellis cursed, looking back at Sam and lifting a strong hand to her throat. His heart slammed to a halt when his fingers felt no movement. It was impossible with the floor of the helicopter vibrating with the whir of its blades. Lifting his fingers to Sam’s mouth, Bellis knew he felt no breath. “FUCK!” He unzipped the front of Sam’s suit, ignoring the stirring in his gut as her flesh was exposed. “Fuck!” he repeated, and linked his fingers together, one palm over the other as they flattened between her breasts. He gave several rapid compressions to her chest before he bent and sealed his lips over hers, pinching her nose and tilting her head back. He forced several of his breaths into her lungs before he righted and continued chest compressions.
He heard Bishop say, “She’s not breathing!” He hoped Bishop was relaying information to his mate and StoneCrow’s Chief of Surgery, Jenny Atkinson, who apparently was already on her way to meet them at the North Fortress.
The chopper dipped, and they rapidly descended. He prayed it meant they were nearly there. Unable to confirm, Bellis concentrated on alternating between breathing life into Sam’s mouth and pushing on her chest in an attempt to kick-start her heart.
His tongue tasted coppery from the blood that still seeped from Sam’s mouth. It was sweet, and made his heart accelerate. He straightened to compress her chest once more and growled, “Breathe goddamn it!”
“SIR?”
Bellis didn’t look up, he knew from Tito’s tone and the hard landing that they’d arrived at the North Fortress. Bishop was out of his seatbelt in an instant, flinging his door open as he called out to someone waiting outside the helicopter.
The whir of the blades slowed as the engine was shut down. Bellis lifted to do more compressions, but this time he glanced over his shoulder. Jenny, neon-orange backboard in hand, was rushing him with Bishop at her side.
Jenny slid the board onto the floor of the helicopter as Bellis stopped his compressions and breathing to roll Sam’s body to one side. Jenny slid the board beneath her and quickly strapped her legs down before climbing into the helicopter, securing Sam’s head and waist, and then barking, “MOVE!”
Bellis did as directed, while Jenny straddled Sam’s body, taking over compressions.
Bishop was already tugging on the end of the board and it took Bellis only a moment to understand. He grabbed the other end as it slid nearer the door of the helicopter. He had one end fully in hand while Bishop held the other. They rushed toward the fortress with Jenny still straddled over Sam. Thank the Gods the backboard was wide enough for Jenny to continue to work.
The inside of the fortress was—in their haste—just a dark blur. It was a place Monroe had built for Fatal and his Keepers, because they couldn’t reside with the Skin Walkers at StoneCrow or Apex. He knew Jenny had helped in the construction and design of the Keepers’ own on-site infirmary. Her mate, Bishop, must have accompanied her on site visits, because he knew exactly where they were going.
“First exam room!” Jenny barked.
Moments later they were laying the backboard onto a gurney in an exam room that wasn’t really a room. It was just one of several spaces along a wall that housed a med bed and various medical equipment. Each space was separated from the other by a long curtain, but the area was dark. Dark walls, dark curtains, dark everything. He’d heard that the Keepers were used to living underground and weren’t used to windows, sunlight, or the modern décor or amenities provided at StoneCrow Estates.
“Staff?” Bishop asked.
Bellis looked up to see Jenny shake her head hard, her lips pursing. “None, yet. Monroe’s still in the hiring process. It’s just us.”
Bellis’ heart sank as his eyes dipped to Sam. What did that mean? Was she doomed? Had he failed?
Jenny stopped compressions and stared down at Sam, delicate fingers going to the column of her throat.
Eyes plastered to Sam’s chest, Bellis saw it before Jenny confirmed with a relieved, “We’ve got a pulse. She’s breathing!”
Bishop grabbed Jenny’s hips and lifted her off Sam. The second Jenny’s feet hit the floor she was moving, barking orders to Bishop who did as his mate instructed without hesitation. Within moments, wires linked to beeping monitors were attached to Sam and an oxygen mask was over her face.
Jenny and Bishop continued to move about the small space, Jenny disappearing past the curtain a few moments before returning to administer some sort of injection. Bellis wanted to help, but didn’t know how. All he could do was stare down at Sam’s pale features. Her eyes were still closed, and her sooty lashes made a stark contrast against her pale skin.
What in the hell had they been thinking driving her to the North Fortress? Hell, she shouldn’t have left StoneCrow at all.
His heart contracted painfully when he remembered that she was their enemy.
“Christ!” Jenny hissed, drawing his attention. She was staring at a screen that had several different graphs on it. Her head whipped around to stare accusingly at Bellis. “It’s not working. Why isn’t it working?”
He shook his head, not understanding the question, but then remembered that odd scent he had caught more than once. “I…” He hadn’t provided the information yet, he’d been waiting to ensure it was accurate, but right now, Jenny needed to know. “I’m not certain she’s one hundred percent human.”
Bishop’s head jerked up from where he was removing Sam’s boots. His nostrils flared and he stepped closer, sniffing harder. Jenny did the same, bending over Sam to put her nose close to Sam’s throat.
“She smells human to me.” Jenny looked at Bishop and he nodded.
“Me too.”
Jaw clenching, Bellis shifted his stance. “Not to me. It’s faint, but it’s there.”
“What is it?” Jenny asked. “Megalya?”
Bellis shook his head hard. “No.”
Jenny’s tone was impatient. “Keeper, Skin Walker, Shifter, what?”
Shaking his head, Bellis huffed, “I don’t know, but it’s there.”
“And why are you just now telling us this?” Jenny clipped out. “I could’ve run tests while we had her at StoneCrow!”
Eyeing the room, Bellis waved around them. “Run the tests here.”
“I can draw the blood samples here and analyze them, but I have nothing here to compare them to!”
“Does this mean she’s going back to StoneCrow?” Bellis wondered at the sudden hope that filled him.
Bishop was the one to answer. “No. King is adamant that she never return to the Estate.”
For some reason the response angered Bellis. “You do know, King’s not in charge.”
“He is until the Dominant fully returns to duty.”
“Did Monroe even order King to move Sam, or was that all the Chief of Security’s doing?”
Bishop shrugged. “Didn’t ask, don’t care.” He looked at Sam. “She’s Megalya. I wouldn’t lose any sleep if she died.”
Bellis moved before he could even stop himself. One dark hand locked around Bishop’s throat and he slammed the Walker up against the wall, his face mere inches from Bishop’s. He wanted to say something, to snarl that she wasn’t their fucking enemy, to say she didn’t deserve to die. Instead, he kept his mouth closed, because neither claim made sense. She was their enemy, and if she were working with the Megalya when they’d attacked StoneCrow, then she did deserve to die…right?
“Ch-ch…”
The sound drew Bellis, Bishop, and Jenny’s attention to the med bed. Sam’s eyes were cracked open, her voice was a crackled whisper as she tried again. “Ch…ar-ar…ar-ming.”
Bellis released Bishop. A relieved breath rushed from him as he turned to Sam.
“You, out!” Jenny pointed at Bishop, but he balked. Annoyed, Jenny grabbed his arm and forcibly pulled him from the exam area.
Alone with Sam, Bellis’ hands fisted at his sides to keep from touching her. Instead he bent close. “Sam,” he breathed, noting that the typical neon-blue of her eyes was absent. Right now, they were a full matte-black like a Walker in a partial shift. “What do you need?”
She looked at him a moment, and he could see the shock that registered there before she could mask it. They stared at each other for long moments before Bellis peeked up toward the area Jenny had taken Bishop.
“Hurry,” he prodded. “She’ll be back soon.”
Sam’s eyes closed, and he thought she’d passed out, but then they opened again. He hated that they weren’t that heated blue that was always filled with challenge.
“Bl…” She licked her lips and tried to clear her throat. “Blood,” she whispered.
“A transfusion?” Jenny asked from the foot of the bed, and Bellis straightened. Sometimes he forgot the doctor was a Walker too, and she could be just as stealthy as any trained Sentry. “What kind? Megalya? What are you Sam?”
Sam’s eyes closed and she shook her head. “Drink,” she said quietly.
Bellis looked up at Jenny who disappeared from the area. He heard a blast of water come on and looked down when Sam started shaking her head again. When Jenny came back with a glass of water and began to remove the mask, Sam was still shaking her head.
“No,” Sam turned her head away from Jenny and her eyes locked on Bellis. She was trying to tell him something, but he didn’t understand, and it was frustrating as hell.
Staring at her and replaying her words, his narrowed eyes suddenly rounded. Slowly, he lifted his wrist to his mouth and opened wide. When Sam gave a barely perceptible nod, Bellis sank his teeth into his flesh and jerked back.
Jenny gasped, but then moved quickly to remove Sam’s oxygen mask.
Bellis pressed his wrist to Sam’s mouth. Her eyes fluttered closed as she parted her lips. Her throat convulsed as she drank. Bellis and Jenny shared a look over Sam, and Jenny shook her head. “Well, fuck! That’s new.”
There was no pull of her mouth on him, so Bellis left his wrist over Sam’s mouth, his blood pouring into her until her breathing became even and her lips closed, causing his blood to streak down the side of her face. Pulling his hand back, he bent and whispered at Sam’s ear, “Sleep now, Princess. When you wake, I’m gonna be right here.”
He could’ve sworn he saw a faint grin tweak her lips before it faded just as quickly.